News

ORLANDO, FL, October 6, 2008 – NBAA this year welcomed veteran political couple Mary Matalin and James Carville to speak at the Opening General Session of the 61st Annual Meeting & Convention (NBAA2008), offering their perspectives on this year’s election, and marking the couple’s second appearance at an NBAA Convention.

Matalin, a Republican political pundit who once served on George Herbert Walker Bush’s campaign, and who has served as Vice President Dick Cheney’s top advisor, entertained the audience with affectionate jabs at her husband, Carville, a Democratic political pundit and former Clinton advisor.

Matalin and Carville shared anecdotes about each other, explaining how they reconcile their stark political differences in their married life. Matalin said, "I just don’t listen to him – I haven’t read any of his books, except for my half of the book that we wrote together." Carville stated that while their politics may be different, "Mary is intelligent and passionate," and he prefers to be with an intelligent and passionate person who thinks, rather than not.

Both shared their perspectives on this year’s presidential race, citing unpredictability and change as the only things that can be certain for the coming month. "The one thing we agree on is that something big is going to happen, but we don’t know what it is," said Matalin.

Carville and Matalin agreed on the unprecedented pace of events and developments that the world is experiencing overall, magnified by the Information Age.

Carville emphasized his certainty that extraneous events would transpire in the next month that could change the shape and outcome of the presidential race. Using an aviation metaphor, Carville said: "I can’t tell you to a certainty who’s going to win, but we can expect a lot of weather issues between here and landing. Lots of air traffic control delays. It’s certainly not going to be a routine flight," he quipped.

The Opening General Session was concluded by the official NBAA2008 ribbon-cutting, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell cutting the ribbon to officially open the show to Attendees.

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